Europe is like a collection of dogs of different breeds whom some crazy idealist wants to make all the same size and shape and to all bark identically. In the longer run of history it won't work. Don Donovan . NZ

What if there's a full moon? When I ring the dinner bell all the dogs in the neighborhood salivate. Perhaps we can just get the Europeans to answer the dinner bell then. After all, most dogs bark. Why do they have to bark identically? Speaking of which, is there any such thing as twin dogs? Just wondering if they bark identically. It's these sorts of questions that keep me up at night...laughs

Bad example. Dog packs which go back to the wild soon evolve to a common outlook. After a few generations they share a sandy coat, robust legs and a tendency to devour stray human children. In the longer run of dog history it works perfectly.

Before, during and after Marie. Perhaps a nice Pinot Noir. Bought a case of Italian Sangiovese for under $40 yesterday. The Sicilian Grecanico looked good too. May go back tomorrow and pick up a case of that too. Wine's good for the heart. The Americans don't know. The idiots like their table wine sickly sweet...laughs

Sure, New York right? Lots of Long Island wines too. The affordable California stuff use to be good, but then they went and spoiled it. I think they water the vines before the harvest. That's America for you, anything for a quick buck. I settled on the Italian wines. The price is very good and the wine is pretty good for the price, if the bottle isn't corked. If ever I make it to France, I'm going to drink wine until I drop, and then get up in the morning, and do it all over again...laughs

Come to Friuli/Trieste. Just fly to Venice Marco Polo and head eastward on the train. The City of Trieste has Italy's largest Greek community (and two Orthodox churches, one Greek and one Serbian) - with reasonable prices for pensions inside the city.

Then head to the countryside (rented car?) There are many agrotourist restaurants and wine farms where one can drink strong wines (13%-14%) from the vat for very reasonable prices (€7 per bottle in the restaurant - €8 per five-litre jug right from the farmers).

You can chat with friends for two hours over two glasses of wine - and spend €2. Or drink copious amounts of excellent wine for a little more. One of the last few pleasures the global market hasn't ruined for us yet.

In the province of Trieste they are called the "osmizze" (or "osmice" in Slovenian) - local farmhouses where the right to sell limited amounts of their local produce right in their backyard several months of the year is still recognised.
Not a few Austrian and even German tourists hanging around, I might add. The famous "weinstrasse".

Milovan, how are you my friend? Thank you for the invitation. It's good to hear that they haven't ruined everything I remember about Europe yet. A Brussels oversight I'm sure.

It appears that Germany has had her way with the Euro. Too hard a currency for the rest of us, except for Europe's elites. They were born wealthy, and only wanted for a hard currency, which they have now. The price? They sold the rest of us out to the Devil.

Fitting that their vast real estate holdings should be deemed unsellable in the new system. After all, there is a price they too must pay for such treachery. Akinita is what we call them in Greek. An akinito is something that does not move. Many of course sold out in time, while the banks were still lending. This was very short lived for Greeks, but prosperity continues for the Germans. That in itself tells us all we need to know about the Euro.

But if it is a 50 year plan, at least they left us our wine! Back to the farmer's life. The farmer was rich back in the day. His family had to eat. I remember the stories my father use to tell me about the katohi, the war years. He predicted bad times would return for Greece.

Throw the bum out so I can travel to Greece on the cheap. Let all his property holding be devalued in drachmas. With my dollars I'll hire his wife as a maid to clean our house. Now that's deflation! I become a Greek elite overnight, and Samaras and his cronies become working stiffs like me...laughs

DON'T GIVE HIM THE MONEY EUROPE. MAKE HIM SWEAT IT OUT. DANGLE IT IN FRONT OF HIS EYES LIKE A CARAT. THROW IT IN THE DIRT AND MAKE HIM SQUIRM FOR IT...laughs

Yeah, as in Diamonds. When it comes to spelling, I'm a regular Dan Quail, Potatoe right? Cost him the Presidency, or so he says.
I type real fast. No edit button either, because truth be told, I don't give a flying fart anymore...laughs

isn't it your new Chinese government a old Maoist faction now?
Socialism in France is much more liberal than your socialism
and a "socialist" government is France is most likely the only government that can achieve reforms, that will be accepted by a larger spectre of the french population than if it was a Sarkozian government.
Today, if Sarkozy was in office, you would see strikes in french cities,and that is precisely what the markets don't like, also the reason why Hollande had more support from WS and Washington. Now these world finances lobbies through Moody are reminding Hollande why they supported him in the first place

I am an American teaching English in China, with priate diplomacy on the side. You should come spend a year here doing something constructive. Some of my students and their parents as marvels to behold! You sound young and energetic. The two countries have some interesting & surprising cultural similarities and habits. And some big differences. Both are very human. From the China, France could learn to fear more acutely the consequences of its actions. France could use a little of the old wisdoms. China could learn how to make itself a breathtakingly beautiful global brand from France. There are grounds for some union between the two. Both have great glories, and looooong roads with many problems will stretch before them both for centuries to come. It will be a while before Beijing is as sweet as Paris! Or France as economically successful as China has recently become. Catch my drift, ma chère jeune? How many people in both countries would say to the other, in the appropriate conditions, “Take my hand my dear, take my hand, and let us go forward together”
Huh?

Chinese live in a fascist "socialist" dictatorship. Chop, chop! Now they must work for peanuts to produce what Americans want, or lose face. And I just sit here in my American paradise, consuming their cheaply made goods on my credit cards.

But of course the Chinese actually think they're in charge of something. You could never fool a Greek so easily. Very obedient workers the Chinese. Let us see how far it gets them when we all stop consuming.

Truth be told, I avoid Chinese goods as much as possible. There is a stigma associated with them, a sort of cheapness in quality. Another piece of Chinese crap is how I put it more time then not.

I know that the Chinese people are rather admirative of anything french, I think that we have the largest Chinese diaspora in Europe in Paris XIIIe since a long while.

In France Chinese don't try to open stores with their cheap products (that rather french importers who do that), but rather our quality products or rather try to compete with our cooking, one Chinese restaurant got 3µ in the Michelin guide.

I know that Napoleon is revered (he who said when China will awake the world will tremble" after haveing read Lord Macartney's book : Travel in China and Tartaria", and of course "the Art of war of Sun Tsu), he got a special exhibition in Beijing. Chinese tourists are more numerous in France, even some of their TV series are made in Provence.

and a former french MP is in love with Chinese civilisation, he funded a Institute of Chinese civilisation around Poitiers, where we can learn Chinese language, and all about chinese History and civilisation

FC, take the long view. "Civilization" is just, say, 10,000 years old, give or take. Being optimistic, (no armageddons, big asteroid strikes, etc) how many centuries do you think lay ahead of us human as a species, and as the population of our planet’s civilization? Seems to me, more than lie behind us. Catch my drift? Like some of your other posts. Keep on plugging!

Well, put it this way, I'm never buying a Hyundai. The lawn mower's Chinese, and that's why it stinks. The motor's pretty good, but the auto propel and everything else on it is an engineering accident waiting to happen. You buy, you buy! Me sell cheap...laughs

You flatter me, thanks. But really, you do have a sense of humor, and sticktooittiveness, a developing sense of honor, ( we are a young nation…) though perhaps, may I put this as gently as possible, you’re weeee bit peevishly homieistic. ( I well remember good, sincere, well-meaning, and tough folks like you when I came back from Vietnam in ’59, age twelve, knowing we would go to war there and eventually leave with out tails between our legs and millions dead as Ike [my Dad’s boss] feared. Forget “life of Pi” for interesting luck, try me, Forrest Gump… ;-)

Meet for a beer some time? First round’s on me, maybe. Re grad thesis, all and more done a loooong time ago, just not on paper, face to face, voice only. These preposterously impotent twenty six flat-surface two-dimensional symbols currently in use are just SO inadequate, know what I mean? In fact, this pathetic four-to-two-and-back-to-four dimensional commo disconnect-fiasco is a prime cause/glitch of why one has to wait a long time for a good monkeys to write a good poem, (etc) as you referred to. Yet most any monkey will know, from twenty feet away, if your GF is pregnant, often before she, you, the doc, and the pee-test will. Capiche? Well, these pathetic twenty six are all we’ve got for now. Scheeeesh! Its been FC. BTW, did you look at the two sites? I await your approval with bated breath, come on…

Dear Fooli Cat, Sir!
You flatter me, thanks. But really, you do have a sense of humor, and sticktooittiveness, a developing sense of honor, ( we are a young nation…) though perhaps, may I put this as gently as possible, you’re weeee bit peevishly homieistic. ( I well remember good, sincere, well-meaning, and tough folks like you when I came back from Vietnam in ’59, age twelve, knowing we would go to war there and eventually leave with out tails between our legs, and millions dead as Ike [my Dad’s boss] feared. Forget “life of Pi” for interesting luck, try me, Forrest Gump… ;-)
Meet for a beer some time? First round’s on me, maybe. Re grad thesis, all and more done a loooong time ago, just not on paper, face to face, voice only. Much more efficient! These preposterously impotent twenty six flat-surface two-dimensional symbols currently in use are just SO inadequate, know what I mean? In fact, this pathetic four-to-two-and-back-to-four dimensional commo disconnect-fiasco is a prime cause/glitch of why one has to wait a long time for a good monkeys to write an OK poem, (etc) as you referred to. Yet most any monkey will know, from +-twenty feet away, if your GF is pregnant, often before she, you, the doc, and the pee-test will. Capiche? Well, these pathetic twenty six are all we’ve got for now. Scheeeesh! Its been, dear FC. BTW, did you look at the two sites? I await your FC approval with bated breath, come on…
;-)

I admit I had not read the material you shared and I've only just given it a quick once-over even now. I'm curious, what happened to that toy rocket you're holding in the picture? :-) The uniform looks good but the m16 is a cold reminder of the realities that go with that sharp looking outfit. I hope you never had to put it to use.

Don't be shy about calling out my homieism, I'm recently aware of it myself and it serves me only a dis-service to to pretend anything other.

Seems perhaps you've lost touch with this mortal world a little. Puts you a little on the outside, doesn't it? I mean I get the impression 'normal' people have a hard time relating to you, and you with them of course. You go around thinking they're all wasting their time and efforts concerning themselves with such trivial matters I suspect.

Beer? Sure. let me know next time you're State side. I'd love the opportunity to needle you in person and I'm 110% certain you wouldn't hesitate to do more than the same.

I’d been in Vietnam in the late fifties as an embassy brat, so the Viets knew me. When I returned, the Viets & me took the long view as previously envisioned by Roosevelt, and I ended up completing A. Peter Dewey’s failed mission of 1945. The history-copy about Dewey’s mission has changed a lot in the last few years, even on the Arlington Cemetery page. Its gone more right wing. I think originally, Roosevelt wanted Vietnam/Ho Chi Minh to escape Stalin’s bear-hug, and go straight to what Vietnam is today without the two wars, millions dead, and so much communist legacy. No such luck.

We should all be aware of our limits, just as Dirty Harry said. To bad he recently got involved with empty chairs, huh? So welcome to the club. Though it’s more work than sitting in a Lazy Boy loudly spouting Gingoistic opinions, its much more satisfying in the long run. Myself, I grew up with in the Marshall Plan in Europe, and my childhood hobby was model airplanes. So I like global non-stupidity, and solving the problems that prevent a good safe flight, so to speak.

“Lost touch with the mortal world?” You will have to convince me of that! Some one back there went to some loud and expensive length last July to have me killed here in China. I’m quite mortal. Maybe now Obama will deliver on his hand-shake promise to give me some support. We shall see… My opinion is that by continuing to ignore his promise, he is building up ill will towards himself, and our country. Its been a long slippery slope from the Marshall Plan, Korea, & Vietnam.

“Me on the outside.” Absolutely! Way WAY out there! So far its amusing, so I play it as game. A Great Game. Normal people do have trouble relating, but here, may I please diplomatically join with Romney re something about a +-47%? (Just read Yahoo’s home page copy… ;-)

For example, from 1959 to, say, the fall of Saigon, I occasionally whispered to some folks that we could not win in Vietnam. This morphed over time, in some folks mind, into me being a genuine certified prophet. That naturally brought out some crazies, and so on. That’s pretty amusing considering I was born wall-eyes, and thought retarded for a decade or two. In fact, and old friend in allegedly not in No Such Agency, certainly NOT, once told me the film Forrest Gump used a metaphor of my ops profile. (Gee, that’s nice. How about my cut, huh Rupert? Meet you a Bubba Gumps eatery on top of HK’s Victoria Peak for my fat un-marked envelope under the table? ;-)

But suggest I can relate to THEM. And often do. But is it a good use of my limited time? If you read Song of Saigon, you will see that it was futile, back then, for me to try to save the life of a right wing militant determined on going to Vietnam and dying there. Or more often, get them out of their Lazy Boys to do something globally useful or wise. It’s still a problem which you appear to have grasped. So, if truly a breakthrough, well done sir! Welcome to the Out There. Please fasten you seat belt, and if some one foaming at the mouth sits next to you and starts talking, do Forrest Gump.

“You go around thinking they're all wasting their time and efforts concerning themselves with such trivial matters I suspect.”

Well, yes and no. You, who appear to have made a huge leap, are welcome, though I actually prefer coffee with Frog-bread dip. And why don’t you pop over to chugging-right-along China instead? What’s new in America, anyway, Paula Broadwell? We can chat about comminizum, capitalizum, Nash EQ point, and so on ad nausium infinitum. And maybe actually do something interesting.

Well, enough. This was originally about France, who got a boost to their economy a while back by copying and automating the technology of China’s ancient silk brocade loom. That tech moved on to be, would you believe, the fly-back of TVs, and now, the screen upon which you are reading this. Yep. You are welcome to get in touch if you’re interested. Chipnanjingatyahoodotcom. Piece of cake. Good Luck!

Besides, I count seven wasted baguettes in this photo op. That's bread that could have been put to better use in a Greek soup kitchen!

You see, I left the wife to stand on line for soup whilst I blog away from home. Stupid Greeks. Can you imagine? The damn place is not a wireless hot spot. Shouldn't be long, a day or two for cold soup and stale bread. She'll call me on the handy.

It appears Greek soup kitchens are low tech, the whole of Greece for that matter too...laughs

This one does, and that's good enough for me. What? You expect me to feel sorry for the Germans who will have to work to bail out their banks. Print some money and welcome to America, where inflation is a way of life.

Or better yet, have the government change the bundle of goods that they use to calculate it with. Something goes up, throw it out, so the banks don't have to pay inflation on top of interest.

Accounting INDEED! How can impotent two dimensional symbols on a FLAT surface accurately represent our four dimensional reality? Oh Holograms, oh holograms! Wherefore art thou OH HOLOGRAMS!? Will we never see THEE before the eyes of our children in math classes?

“please don't put Theo theMorph into the same basket with pompelinotte, it's not the same gabarit. Pompelinotte is decerebrated”

Ma foi, a brand new word “decerebrated”! As in, they ‘removed his cerebellum’ ?

But you are wrong I am sorry to say because both PP and Morph appear to be “decerebrated”; Morph thinks thousands of Brits on the Continent who would be deprived of work permits if the UK left the EU. CRAP:

1. Norway and Switzerland are not in the EU but their nationals are allowed to work in EU countries through the EEA agreement which Britain would presumably join.

2. There are thousands of EU nationals working in the UK ( 400,000 French in London alone). Is he implying there would be a tit for tat, massive cross Channel expulsions?

3. If the EU ever sank so low as to take trade reprisals, they would lose out. The UK has a trade deficit with the EU which needs the UK market more than the UK needs the EU. The UK is the largest European market for German cars. The UK had the whip hand here.

The real problem is that governments have promised more to their people than they can possibly pay for in taxes. So, for some time now, the four major central banks of the world have been printing money to buy debt on the open market.

Converting all balances to USD, central bankers around the world have expanded their balance sheets beyond $13 trillion, from only $3 trillion ten years ago. Global central banks’ assets now comprise at least a quarter of all global GDP – up from only 10% in 2002.

This will not end soon;

September 6, 2012 the ECB starts its unlimited bond buying program.

September 13, 2012 the US Federal Reserve starts QE 3 to the tune of $80 billion a month

The BOJ on October 30, 2012 increased the total size of its asset repurchase program.

The Peoples Bank of China now holds over $4 trillion USD in assets.

The discussions about credit ratings or which country in the EU is the biggest problem are interesting intellectual exercises, but that is about all it is, an exercise. Although, I must say one of the key challenges to the Euro is demonstrated in these comments. Many are based on nationalistic ideals rather than economic fact. This is the biggest problem with the common currency. I cannot see how 17 different countries will ever agree on a common solution because any agreement will cause some pain somewhere.

The challenge for the developed economies of the world it to find a way to grow competitively while limiting transfer of payments to people who do not work, or, cannot work.

No one knows which bug will hit the windshield first, Japan, China, the US or the EU. But, one surely will. I am betting on Japan, for what it is worth. So, what is the bug? INFLATION

Once the inflation genie is out of the bottle, there is no way to contain it. The traditional way to stop inflation is to raise interest rates and suck up all the excess money that was created to “prime the economic pump”.

In the US today, we pay $200 billion a year in interest on the debt. If interest rates were to move back to the 30 year average of 7.5% we would have to pay $1,000 billion a year! This cannot happen without crashing the economy. The EU, BOJ and PBOC all have exactly the same problem!

"Early in the year 1789 the French nation found itself in deep financial embarrassment: there was a heavy debt and a serious deficit."

yet, if the US had repaid what they owed to the King of France in time, no terror would have happened. Yes I know, there wasn't any reliable american bank then, but no american effort was seen for thanking the french for their help, in the contrary, as soon the Independance was won, they reverted to their former masters !

"A turning-point in French-American relations took place in 1794 when John Jay, a Federalist, was sent to London to discuss pending issues between the United States and Britain. Jay's Treaty, signed in November 1794, was interpreted by French authorities, then pitted against Britain in a merciless war, as a sign of American surrender to British demands, and thus as treason : the United States was at the time the only French ally remaining. A French editor wrote, recalling French support during the War of Independence: "Si n'aviez-vous pas une dette sacrée à payer, n'aviez-vous pas l'honneur national à défendre ? Qui retenait vos forts, qui capturait vos vaisseaux? L'Angleterre. Qui voulut vous asservir? Qui vous suscita (sic) la guerre contre les Algériens et les Indiens? L'Angleterre. Qui vous défendit quand vous brisâtes vos chaînes? La France. Qui veut pour son intérêt que vous conserviez votre liberté? la France "

"1782
Confronted with the serious defeat at Yorktown and with world-wide conflicts with the French, England accepted to negotiate peace terms. Congress named peace commissioners to work in Europe 'under the supervision of the French': Franklin, Jay, Adams, and Laurens.

On 30 November 1782, without informing the French, the American commissioners signed preliminary articles with the British negotiators. However, it stipulated that the provisions depended upon France making its own preliminary treaty with Britain. The Americans were aware that they violated their instructions and had not kept faith with the French ally.

Vergennes was not surprised. He had his reasons for terminating the war quickly, and accepted the American diplomatic acts with the chide:

"We have never based our policy towards the United States on their gratitude. This sentiment is infinitely rare among sovereigns, and unknown to republics."

Jonathan; Thank YOU for the link to Money and Inflation. I find it AMAZING that the introduction was writing in 1912! The next year, the US crated the Federal Reserve Bank in 1913. (The Creature from Jekyll Island). I also find it interesting that the FED will have its 100th birthday in 2013. Will we celebrate, or, will we want to bury it?

"Which countries should have the top rating?" is not the really important question. Instead one could ask: "Which countries have economies (or political leaders) that are sensitive to grading by unreliable private agencies?". If the countries have sound economies such rating changes have just a short-lived effect. If the economies are too sensitive that should ring alarm bells for politicians and societies.

There is always the emotional aspect "How does someone outside my country (agencies, IMF, investors, speculators) dare to analyse its performance and its investment safety?". This is a understandable but useless feeling, as we live in a globalized world since perhaps Vasco da Gama sailed to India (almost certainly much earlier than that, VG voyage just marked the start of the Western European dominated globalization). Since then safe heavens are in short supply. There was a sucessive rise and fall of empires and nations, some of them coming back from ashes like China, Japan, and Germany. Some other former seats of empires - Russia, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Iran, Poland, even Mongolia - are also coming back, as proud of their pasts as France rightfully is, notwithstanding their ratings by the agencies.

After you said "understandable but useless feeling, as we live in a globalized world", let me add an illustration of our worlds' crazyness and fragility.

When a vulcano started shocking in Iceland last year, air traffic was shut down for a few days between the Americas and Europe.

Enough days for an Air France CEO to tell eihter French gov. or EU (?): "if you don't support our balance sheet through financial support, AF will have to fire XYZ 000 employees". Sure that was not true, but he tried. I doubt he got the money, fortunately.

How strong is our "globalized world" ?
Could be an interesting issue for TE to analyze, don't you think ?
BUT I doubt very smart people at TE are likely to get involved in too much mess, "one country at a time, please"...

Deviding issues is always easier than bringing global analysis.
Is it helpful?

Thank you for your comment, that is a good example of trying to manipulate information. A few days of localized trouble, even in the tragic cases of Chernobyl, Katrina, Sandy, or Fukushima, will not destroy a global company.

It was said that military strategists make detailed plans for the last war, but one could say that societies (including politicians, economists, journalists) do the same. All of us individually know that is not that simple, the future is not a repetition of the past, but when societies discuss they fall easily into that trap. In Physics we would say that the future is a analytical continuation of the past: is determined by it, provided one has complete information, but is not a repetition.

In practical terms there is a rising tide of globalization but, in mental terms, we live at most in the early XX century (some nations have political debates that go even earlier).
For instance, were it not the fears of past famines and of the social instability on the countryside (leading to many tens of millions migrating to the cities, as in a Bertolucci film or in the Marx Manifest) some of the reasons behind the Common Agricultural Police? Western Europe does not need to be self-sufficient in food and these many tens of millions of people that will either starve in the slums of the big cities or migrate simply don't exist now (the same for the slums). The world changed a lot - the many millions displaced by the Agricultural and the Industrial Revolutions and widespread abject poverty are now a thing of the past almost everywhere (parts of Asia and Africa are exceptions) - but in our imaginary it remains the same. Now it is the feared migration of uncountable Arabs, Africans, and Eastern Europeans into Western Europe, are there so many of them?

And the fear for the military safety in Europe, if millions of Russian soldiers should go West? Now the whole of Russia has about a third of the population of the rest of Europe. That fear is mostly a memory of the past Hun, Hungarian, Mongol and Turkish invasions, a memory that creates the need for NATO. Russia, not Europe, is the one that should be concerned with migrations to her empty Asiatic region (as Brazilian nationalists are concerned with foreigners in the Amazon basin, after perceived imperialist threats during XIX century). But that is life, we prepare for the past happening again. Meanwhile the world continuously changes!

The British newspaper writes an article about the French inability to compromise and that they therefore too easily protest, demonstrate or strike. In response to this article the French readers protest en masse!

France should maybe consider to change political system to a more democratic and less presidential authoritarian. In a parliament with representatives from different political parties they will have to listen to the voice of people even when there is no election and they will learn how to compromise and make long term political strategies.

What will then happen with the president? Either you could do like Germany or Italy and elect a president that no one outside of France will ever care for or either you could consider Louis XX or Henry VII. This change to a modern European constitutional monarchy would for sure give France a lot of international attention, luxury French goods would get free marketing and the French Kingdom would see a vast increase in tourism from already being number one in the world!

hey loulou, seems that Germany is playing the russian roulette with the EZ:

Take the last European Union summit, in October. EU summits are ritualized events at which member states’ national leaders sign joint statements and then rush off to their assigned rooms in the building to hold separate news conferences. There, they try to define what the deal really means. German Chancellor Angela Merkel signed the October summit’s conclusions, which committed to start building parts of a banking union, and then started to distance herself from it before she had left the building.
This raised a few eyebrows, but it should have raised the alarm. Most commentators assumed that any backtracking was just about election schedules. Merkel was keen to push off potentially contentious issues until after Germany’s 2013 elections, they argued.
That assumption was probably false. Germany isn’t interested in taking the steps required to establish an effective banking union, not now and not ever. Without a banking union -- and, by extension, some degree of fiscal union -- the euro project stands little chance of survival.

The main objective of a banking union is to break this negative-feedback loop by allowing banks to fail and to be liquidated or recapitalized without contagion to other lenders or to sovereigns. In order to work, the union has two minimum requirements.
The first is a single supervisory mechanism to oversee all banks in the euro area. The second is a bank-resolution plan, which would put processes in place for recapitalizing systemically important banks that get into difficulty, and for liquidating their nonsystemically important counterparts.
Some progress has been made on establishing a supervisory mechanism. At the EU summit in October, euro-area policy makers agreed to legislate one by the end of 2012, and to implement it in 2013. Once this has been done, policy makers agreed that the EU bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism, will be able to recapitalize banks directly.
Germany only wants the mechanism to supervise systemically important banks. It’s no secret that this is because Merkel doesn’t want euro-area supervisors poking around Germany’s sick Landesbanks and highlighting that Germany’s banking system hasn’t been immune to the crisis. This hurdle is probably surmountable.

oh and that Bloomberg article comment (mille excuses to the author for borrowing his prose, but it's for the same religion's sake), sums up what the EZ members fhinks, except the Germans of course

"The educated PRAY for the demise of the Euro, especially those of us in Policy Administration.

Someone commented that German taxpayers don't want to pay for the mistakes of Spanish Banks?

Are you kidding me? Germans haven't yet paid a single Euro cent. That's not how the bailout fund works, the member state in need must layout their plan and ask permission to be bailed out by the fund (EC / EU / ECB). THEN, a bond offering takes place to raise those funds which are then LOANED to the member state in question, AT INTEREST. Stop stirring up trouble with rumors that German taxpayers are bailing out the EU, that is a lie. Those of us sitting in these policy meetings are fed up with Germany and their bad attitude, like an angry child, they storm out of most meetings, toys in hand leaving the sandbox.

Of course Germany doesn't want to be controlled by the ECB, especially as long as they no longer have the keys to the shop. Germany is bitter as they can no longer use the ECB as their own personal cash register, as they did for 10 years, foisting their predatory tactics upon the defenseless periphery, as well as Germany having subsidized
trading for the last decade, AND the future fall out for
which they shall have financial havoc within their own nation, which will be passed on and spread out among the other EU member states to choke on.

Deutsche Bank, alone, owes the FED $354 BIL USD, See GAO FED Audit pgs. 130-131. Germany is hardly in a position to lecture anyone on financial matters. The ECB as a Central Bank is the "public authority" that supervises financial institutions and markets, while conducting monetary policy, FULL STOP. The ECB DOES NOT NEED PERMISSION as their mandate is granted by European Supervisory Authority, which clearly trumps Germany's Constitutional Court (BGH, Karlsruhe), which is only applicable to Germany within it's own sovereign boarders.* If you (ECB) SUPERVISE someone, they (Germany) are SUBORDINATE to you, your are their SUPERIOR, and they MUST follow your ORDERS. Germany, read the treaty you signed and agreed to follow: Treaty on Functioning of the European Union.Article 3, 1. The Union shall have exclusive competence in the following areas: (a) customs union; (b) the establishing of the competition rules necessary for the functioning of the internal market; (c) monetary policy for the Member States whose currency is the euro; (d) the conservation of marine biological resources under the common fisheries policy;(e) common commercial policy. 2. The Union shall also have EXCLUSIVE competence for the conclusion of an international agreement when its conclusion is provided for in a legislative act of the Union or is necessary to enable the Union to exercise its internal competence, or in so far as its conclusion may affect common rules or alter their scope.READ the LAW to understand the LAW, Germany joined the Union of their own volition, they can also leave. restoring balance among the remaining core (we all hope)."

Not a single member state has the majority in the ECB. Even Germany only has 18% of the capital subscribed. Decissions taken by the ECB have to take into account the economic fundamentals of the whole Eurozone of 331 million people.

It is true that in Spain austerity is now taking its tall, but we cannot forget that over a decade there was a lot of money, GDP increased almost 4% on average, 7 million immigrants from the rest of the World arrived to Spain in five years....Meanwhile, German GDP growth was much lower. So, if now German GDP is increasing more than Spain´s, that is something logical.

poor Merkin, she hasn't been blackmailed, she was just playing her Merliavelli part, pretending that she was a member of the EZ club, while knowing that the day after, this EZ meeting wasn't a decisive meeting, that Germany wasn't signing into it...

if you like so much Germany, then lobby the German policital parties to Leave the EZ the hell out !!!

and you see, that the inter european countries relations will recover their sanity

MC: ". . . then lobby the German policital parties to Leave the EZ the hell out !!!"

I'm emotionally and spatially too far removed as to "lobby German political parties". But even if I weren't, why should I? Isn't it you who always trumpets that it's Germany which benefits most from the EZ?

But to answer a question with a question: Why isn't France signing up for an instant banking union with Italy and, as the case may be, with Spain and Greece, when it thinks Germany's participation isn't needed? There is no law which hinders any EU country from signing bilateral or multilateral agreements with its neighbors.

BC bullshiiting: "why should we comply to the German austerity dictats only for that Germany still can nuke our competivenesses and and our economies with a DM euro, very useful for the german exportation machine !!!!!"

As a comparison study of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows, concerning hourly compensation costs of the manufacturing export industries in major OECD countries shows, in 1997, the average hourly compensation costs in Germany were $29.19. These hourly compensation costs (labor costs per working hour) had risen in Germany to $43.76 in 2010, while in France, the hourly compensation costs were $24.88 in 1997 and $40.55 in 2010, or roughly 8 percent lower than in Germany.

I wrote: the average hourly compensation costs in Germany had risen to $43.76 in 2010 (!!), while in France, the hourly compensation costs were $40.55 in 2010 (!!), or roughly 8 percent lower than Germany's. These are cost figures converted in US Dollars, neither in Euros, nor in DM.

If the Germans would have kept the DM and the DM had appreciated steeper against the USD than the EURO later did, then the hourly compensation costs would have been just the same in USD, since global competitiveness comparison is always denominated in USD, not in DM or EURO. This is as least how German manufacturers measured their global competitiveness when I was there. Merely with a DM currency the hourly compensation gain would have been less steep.

If socialist 'PAPA Shulz' says something different, then, indeed, he is a "naive German", as 'dumb' as those Europeans who measure global 'competitiveness' only in the Euro currency.

MC, you are posting nonsense again. Keep your hands off that cheap french wine!

Germany's global trade surplus was 150.400 billion euros in the 12 months through March 2012. The country’s trade surplus with the other 16 countries in the euro zone was 62.2 billion euros in the same period. This is approx 41.1% of the total, fully in line with the percentage of Germany's trade with the 16 countries in the euro zone (approx 40%) ... and also fully in line with Germany’s trade surplus with countries NOT in the European Union, which also amount to approx 40% of Germany's trade, with a combined trade surplus of 62.9 billion euros or 41.8% of the country's total trade surplus.

As I've said in earlier posts, it's not in the interest of Germany to have trade surplus with anyone, especially not with countries in the southern Eurozone, since no money ever leaves these countries toward the German Bundesbank. Instead, it is 'piled up' as negative TARGET2 account.

In general, as long as a country can pay for all its imports, a balanced trade is entirely satisfactory. This is true for all other large trade surplus countries in the world; e.g. China with $280.600 billion surplus, Saudi Arabia with $151.400 billion, Japan with $122.800, Russia with $90.510 or Switzerland (!) with $76.700 trade surplus - BTW, Switzerland is a country with a population of less than 10% of Germany's and its own 'very appreciated' currency, but with a global trade surplus half that of Germany's.

Switzerland's example also proves that 'trade surplus' is not a question of "IN" or "OUT" the Euro, but solely one of high, efficient productivity or less efficient productivity in manufacturing, as e.g. in France or even outright inefficient 'productivity' as in Greece.

The text provided with your post is not from an economist, but from the well known globalization opponent (and German-basher), heterodox sociologist Jacques Saphir. In his article, he merely ‘interprets’ charts from a report of the Robert Schuman Foundation which he quite outlandishly expounds.

For general information: Jacques Saphir has close connections to Putin’s Russia, is a ‘specialist’ of the Soviet and Russian military and teaches at the Moscow School of Economics.

As I proved with hard data, provided by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the wages for the German export-relevant manufacturing sector are among the highest in the world, about 8% higher than in France. The overall productivity, including low paid service jobs and public-services is indeed not higher in Germany than 'average'.

Yet, Jacques Saphir is not all wrong when he asserts that German companies outsourced big parts of their supplier industries to Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia (to a lesser extent, though, to Hungary) which is then re-imported into Germany for final quality control and final assembly; thus, turning “Made in Germany” rather into a label ‘assembled in Germany’.

However, this is an almost ‘literal’ implementation of the European “Treaty of Accession” of April 2003. Nobody can reproach Germany for following the ideas and intentions of the ratified EU treaties.

"His Socialist Party remains unmodernised and hostile to capitalism: since he began to warn about France’s competitiveness, his approval rating has plunged".
The Economist is wrong on everything: pay attention to the history of the socialist party in France before writing such things. François Hollande's approval rating is now stabilized, and its competitiveness reform got a large support from French citizens.
This article is all widespread prejudices against France, I'm am very disappointed.

French civil servants and politicians, and even the trades unions (who represent a very small proportion of the workforce), benefit from all kinds of special allowances (regimes speciaux), including up to 80% pensions and unaccountable expenses. Reforms such as the grouping of communes into 'communautes de communes' have not saved money, only increased public expenditure unnecessarily ... etc. The only solution, in my view, would be a referendum organised, somehow, outside party political and governmental structures, proposing the outright abolition of all these privileges, across the board, in the name of 'egalite'. As almost all French people - other than civil servants and politicians - agree that this is where considerable spending cuts could be made, the result would be preordained. But as the article stated, the French middle classes have a long history of pessimism, indeed cynicism, and vested interests ('corporatisme') across the political spectrum, plus the anti-capitalist rhetoric of irresponsible left-wingers, make such a referendum impossible. Hollande is right to increase the number of teachers, as the educational scene is pretty catastrophic (other than in primary schools and the grandes ecoles), but he seems unwilling or unable to make the public sector cuts that are long overdue. His lack of business experience is a real problem too, as others have remarked. Nearly all French people agree that small businesses are penalised by labour taxes, but nobody seems to know how to set this right and make young people into enthusiastic entrepreneurs.

if you want french bank exposure try BIS, it's the most reliable source

but I can tell you that they are lesser deleveraged to the spanish debt than the German's and were lesser deleveraged to the Greek debt until the german banks managed to unload them to BCE, they also are lesser deleveraged to the irish debt, to the protugese debt, except to Italy's debt, but Italy is relevant as far as paying her due !

Othewise, kiki va être in the merdia if French debt is attacked? UK for 30%, the US, for a significant percentage, China, the Arab countries, Germany...

Would you think that these global investors would nuke France? not a minut, they keep on buying french bonds, at negative interests, and why? because nowadays it's dangerous to put one's money in unstable countries.

The Moody pression is for impressing Hollande, for that he makes what he promissed to make... cuz otherwwise, the euro will get kaput, and y'a know what would happen then? a World wide Krach Boom DUH HELLO

Might be the only sane happening for these neo-liberal Ponzi schemes...

I'm not entirely sure what language you're writing in but if that's a representation of what's going on in your mind then...

Actually, it was you who made the minaret comments and disparaging comments about Africans wasn't it? Then you're accusing others of being off-topic? It seems that deflection is your only strategy.

For all your ramblings, you haven't addressed any of Moody's analysis. I'd remind you also, that Moody's is commonly criticised, every time they're reviewed, for having an extreme over-representation of French analysts.

the problem with you, is that you take sentences out of context, I was responding to a Swiss french basher !

but as far as Moody, since you read all my posts, it should be clear the I couldn't care less of what Moody makes of the french Debt, since the US, UK, aren't better graded than France, and that these countries still are bankable for investors...

but I understand that you are one of our friends, next time you come to France, don't forget to remove your religious signs, you know, we are a laïc country, where no ostentary religious signs are de rigueur, it's for the peace between the communauties !

Hilarious - Anyone who takes offence at your unprompted Islamaphobia and racist comments towards Africans must be either black or Muslim, or both. I'm actually neither, though I find it interesting that you frame it as an accusation. That view explains one of the chasms between the UK and France - Here, we try to treat people equally rather than just refusing to measure the relatively dire socio-economic conditions of minorities and saying its because all citizens are equal. I didn't take your comment out of context, if anything my entry sanitised it.

You say you couldn't care less about Moodys ratings - The quantity, if not quality of your contributions to the site would suggest otherwise. And where did you get the idea that the UK and France have the same rating?

oh that's curious, I had rather the impression that you were the procurator who was accusing the French, me in the occurence, of racism when I was firing back a response to a a Swiss Frenchbasher, hence my referrence to the Minarets, that were the object of a hot polemic a couple of year ago in Switzerland
Bizarrely, though you're the alone person that found my comment "racist", I wonder why, no true Brit would have had any grief with my words.

I can understand that you don't appreciate my posts, they are at the antipodes of your virtue, not so british, that you pretend to show off now.

as far as UK's Debt rating , read the right papers sometimes, not just be satisfied of coming around to flame the French, aka me, on supposed racism !

That's not how it went down - The Swiss muppet complained that there were too many French relocating to Switzerland - Your instinctive response was 'You'd prefer Africans would you'?
Now I'm not a 'True Brit' because I found it offensive. I can assure you that the majority of Brits would find it offensive, I was just silly enough to lower myself to engage with you on it. The fact of the matter is that very few Brits read the Economist.

Your UMP is significantly to the right of the Tory party here and your FN is just disgusting. Time you faced the fact that the French are behind the British, I'd say by at least 30 years, when it comes to equality. And this is symptomatic of the fact that you're behind on most matters. I can't imagine the retrogade farce you would have made of the Olympics, had you won it...

ah yes, I said that, because Switzerland is a country that can't fonction without foreigners, as apparently he didn't like the French "frontaliers" (living on the border aeras, though lots of Swiss bought their home in France, because it's less expensive) coming into Switzerland taking the Swiss wages, I said then that he would have to hire Africans for doing the same jobs at lower costs, and in the meanwhile he would have to build minarets (that was the peak of my acerbatic response)

you have no excuse for your racism anti-French, Never saw a intelligent Brit affirming that they were superior to the French, and certainly not for tolerance

if you reduce your superiority to the Olympic games, I pity you since usely the Brits weren't shining from their Olympic medals. It's normal, that while hosting the OG, Britain made a effort to get a honnorable place

Marie Clear that never sleeps .. how many are you?!?
Just crazy to read the number of sounded comments and great "capacity of fire" you have!! Whoever you might be, I hope you get a load for this interesting presence on the Internet.

Garino
I have a certain martian moon
Don't worry, I get my resting times, like a "navigateur solitaire"
Moody is working for the international finance lobbies, if France doesn't do what these are expecting, their whole cards castel will crumble
I wish we still could have a De Gaulle, who told these people :
La Politique de la France ne se fait pas à la corbeille"http://www.ina.fr/economie-et-societe/vie-economique/video/I00013080/cha...

Good question, how many? Would not bother with this person any
more, this person's world consists out of swiss french bashers,
british french bashers, german french bashers etc etc and rambling on and on; this
person needs to see a shrink, typical case of inferiority complex,
hard to heal....

The French President, François Hollande, wants to realize savings and appreciates efficiency, but...

As a civil servant in a French administration department, I have saved the government a lot of money. First, I refused to take part in smuggling funds out of the ministry, disguising bills or sending new technological materials and furniture paid by the ministry to my superior's house. Later on, I was very efficient dealing with contracts for purchasing aircraft and equipment for the Army. No late payment interest charges were incurred on my account during my 4 months management period though 8 millions euros worth of interest payments were recorded during the other 8 months of the year. After taking exemplary care of public money (some thought 'too good'), I was declared mentally ill and then dismissed without compensation or retirement benefits. However no psychiatrist declared any mental illness.
The case went to Court but the legal proceedings were corrupted. The head office wanted to confine me in a psychiatric institution in order to hide the case and methods employed. I was summoned by the police, but instead I succeeded in meeting with expert witnesses in psychiatry : these doctors - experts in the field of mental illness - confirmed I was fine. Due to the repression applied, I have not been successful in fighting for my rights on my own.
In 2012, The French government has promoted CGA Palagos to second head of the Defence cabinet. But, he was the man who has dismissed me, without taking in to account neither my honesty, nor my efficiency. He judged on my health, without the medical committee's agreement, though regulations demanded it. Besides, he made a forgery. The decree declaring my dismissal is based on an agreement of personnel representatives which does not exist. It takes into account discriminative letters. All the personnel representatives refused getting involved in my dismissal.

My good mental heath is not a defence secret.
My website address is florence-jarrier.net and not florence.jarrier.net. Please try again with the hyfen and let me know.
I would appreciate that an English newspaper writes an article about my story. This would be the best way to get an audience and a solution.

Excellent idea to bring your case to the attention of the world via the Internet. There are politicians of this kind in every country and little people often at the mercy of their despotism. I wish you good luck with your case. Bon courage!

I hope this example will be followed by the many out there in similar situations. In fact, I hope that there will be Websites dedicated to this kind of complaint. The Internet to become a podium for claiming justice where it is refused by little politicians with Napoleon syndromes who then will have to sue if they want to defend themselves. In this way such cases will then be brought to the attention of the media.

We might call such a Website the "Michael Kohlhaas Forum".
If one of you useless overpaid Brussel's parasites sitting on your lazy backsides dreaming about the next pay cheque are reading this, perhaps you could do something useful for a change. Create a "letterbox" for disenchanted Europeans not getting justice from their local lords, like Michael Kohlhaas, so that they are dissuaded from taking matters in their own hands, like Michael did and march on Brussels one of these days.
Chop, chop!!

Charlemagne of the Economist could take this one up with a lot of support from the usual crowd.
Maher, do your stuff. You would have done it for Florence Nightingale. Once more unto the breach, dear friends...

You have my full respect and my admiration.
But take care of yourself.
Attacking a system by a single or a few persons usually is causing very strict and severe reactions by the whole system.
I also only can recommend to you informing interested journalists and we know meanwhile how most French journalists are working, the best will be to give your experience to journalists outside of France.
Your fate reminds me how in the former Soviet Union people have been treated.

And in most countries in Europe and especially in Germany I have more and more the feeling that almost all journalists are on the payroll of Mrs.Merkel and her friends.

Thanks.
My French folder gives more details and shows that some French politicians - a few of them – have been positive, but they were not dynamic enough, to block aggressive ones and their methods.
Actually I need to have my story publish by a foreign newspaper.

The value of debt as a percent of GDP is not a convincing measure and the assertion that 100% Debt/GDP suppose to be some kind of insolvency cliff is misleading as well.

The Japan debt/GDP is 220% long surpassing the magic 100% and the Japan economy is further from the insolvency cliff than for instance Italy’s economy at 120% debt/GDP ratio. Other variables such as government revenue and thus the repayment potential and the GDP growth must be incorporated in the formula.

SEVEN839 insolvency index of 12. I do not want to sound too technical, however if the computed index based on 1.Government Revenue 2.Gross National Debt 3.Bond (10y) Average Yield and 4.GDP real growth, exceeds magic number 12 a given economic entity would hit the insolvency cliff.

Fiscal conservatives’ idea of cutting taxes that would eventually increase tax revenue via GDP growth has never materialized a case of US economy where Gov revenue is only 35% of GDP - insufficient to cover the spending. France is further from the cliff than others.

Pumper you are too hasty to discredit my index; Italy’s bond yield is higher than US that mean higher interest payment for Italy and US growth is 2.9% and Italy’s only 1.3. Comparing to UK debt, Italy’s is much higher again Italy’s growth is only 1.3% and UK is 2.3%. Figures do not lie.

I am objective and you are not...apologise for slandering my magic INDEX.

economywatch.com...provides statistics and also forecasts till 2016...you might find it complicated but if you click on country and then on indicator it will show you bar graph by years. The 2012 values are best estimates – the year is not finished yet.

Unlucky 7 doesn't understand the economics of debts. Japan's government debt isn't the same thing as PIIGS or Latin American debts. Not even similar as German debts. Basically Japan's debts are from Japanese savings. Which means Japan has to print enormous amount of money to repay to Japanese savers. However Japanese won't need the money immediately. There is no hurry or worry about Japanese debts, because if Japanese government repays, the money has to be exported to other countries, creating another bubbles. Or they will be idling in Japanese bank warehouses! Can't you see the difference from Germany? Note that Germany cannot print money!

Sicko: “Basically Japan's debts are from Japanese savings. Which means Japan has to print enormous amount of money to repay to Japanese savers.”

VLCC: “They have very high private savings rates - and they owe the money to themselves.”

......
You would be better in polishing shoes on the street than write this nonsense. Japan ranks 58th and Italy 116th respectively in savings percent. Sicko, printing money means inflation...Japan inflation is ¼ percent. VLCC have you finished high school?

I have to eat a portion of humble pie. Their savings rates figures appear to have dropped off a cliff. Though my underlying point is like Italy they owe the debt mainly to themselves so are special cases.

"Analysts at the three biggest credit rating agencies who gave positive, investment-grade ratings to AIG and Lehman Brothers up until their collapse have not been fired or disciplined, the heads of the agencies admitted at a Congressional hearing today.

Moody's, Standard & Poor's, and Fitch Ratings all maintained at least A ratings on AIG and Lehman Brothers up until mid-September of last year. Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy Sept. 15; the federal government provided AIG with its first of four multibillion-dollar bailouts the next day."

"At the hearing today, the exchange between Speier and the agency chiefs was particularly contentious.

"You had rated AIG and Lehman Brothers as AAA, AA minutes before they were collapsing. After they did fail, did you take any action against those analysts who had rated them?" Speier asked. "Did you fire them? Did you suspend them? Did you take any actions against those who had put that kind of a remarkable grade on products that were junk?"

How much longer is Europe going to wait before kicking these three monkeys, S&P, Moody’s and Fitch, who all have their eyes and ears covered but not their mouths, spouting imbecilities, out of Europe and bring in our own agency just like the Chinese have done and start rating some countries realistically?

What are we waiting for? If Merkel does not have the balls now is the time for M. Ollande to earn his spurs.

yes, since he is said to be Merkel twin as political animal. They both benefitted of the eviction their party mentor, they both opposed to exuberant candidats, Schröder, Sarkozy, they both prefer discretion, they both are post modern politicians, they both manoeuver behind the curtains for getting what they want... They are likely to not compose a Ehe Paar, but be farouches adversaires... While Merkel and Sarkozy found their complement in acting de concert.http://leplus.nouvelobs.com/contribution/700539-angela-merkel-et-francoi...
So Merkel will have hard time to subjugate Hollande

Do you really think that kicking off the rating agencies will solve the problem and bring back confidence to investors?
And do you really believe that all public deficits will be gone if the rating agencies are kicked off?
Confidence of investors you can not implement by force as less as you can force people buying certain products or not.
I think you are mixing cause and effect.

Something surprises me : I read comments from around the world, from the Americas, from every and any European country etc.. from people who traveled around the world and speak English as a foreign language ...
BUT is there any brits in this VERY large debate?
Regular John ?
People from the press?
Great civil servant?
Diplomats?
Anyone who dares saying "something" (pros and cons) after that "BOMB" was thrown last week from London?

The British just read, listen and smile.
They are right watching a disbanding Europe.
What should they say?
That the French have been aways this nike?
What came out of the idea of Anglo.-French navy Sarkozy and the French were that much praising as the newest model in Europe?
French waffles as usual?

You should look deep into the very core of the economy of France before you do your judgement about it. You should try to avoid doing your judgement by looking around the surface and reading several macro parameters of the economy of France.

You see, it would take a nation a century and huge amount of cash and so much effort in order to develop such "bases" as the same as those of France for economic development.

France is facing with several surfacial troubles and macro problems, such as high costs of production, budget strain, high level of public debts, labour market rigidity, increasing share of the government in GDP ... But such factors are easily and quickly adjusted and changed for good by doing necessary reforms and adjustments.

So, what's the big deal about that for you to talk too much about "economic bomb"???

"But such factors are easily and quickly adjusted and changed for good by doing necessary reforms and adjustments."

and herein lies the rub. Sarkozy might have been up to tackle such reforms and. therefore, was voted down. Hollande had to oppose them in order to be voted in. Will he do the necessary "Mitterand" and abandon his socialist folly and close ranks with Germany or go the populist way and close ranks with Italy and Spain and force Germany to agree to print, baby, print bringing the whole edifice down on our head?

The French are indeed the ticking time bomb at the heart of Europe, as I have always maintained, and Monsieur Hollande has his finger on the key.

Yeah, I agree. I think that President Hollande is not a dude so he understands that he should go ahead with deep cuts. But I think that he's still mulling over it because he fears that the French will get angry, flocking to streets of big cities of France to f.. him, destroying and burning cars and shops, killing dogs and cats etc. That causes social unrest and chaos.

He should develop a pro-business environment. He should pack whoever flocking to street to cry out for funds from the government in containers and "export" them to former colonies of France (Africa, for instance).

Hollande is the French Merkel, he doesn't care to revert his jacket for becoming the N°1, like Merkel he had a socialist education, though he is from a far-right pro business family, so, the sound of business isn't a discovering for him. You might get surprised, he who will nuke la Merkel

they won't be such, cuz Hollande is delegating to the Union responsibles to find a solution, and those know that they have no choice, it's how the AirFrance union voted for ending 300 pilot contracts in a couple of years. The Misnistress of the space industry, who knew nothing in the business, managed in 4 month to get the scientists from the research institute and the businessmen who pwill pay for the next Ariane 6 launcher to get one voice, whereas the former Sarkozy'sMinister only got quarrels, anarchy
I'm starting to like some of this government ministers, Vals still is my favorite

Indeed Sarkozy was starting some reforms but very half-hearted as anything he started and then suddenly stopped.
And it is a mater of fact that just Sarkozy was increasing the huge public deficit of France during his time.
Hollande now has to face the music which has been ordered by Sarkozy.

This is just based on your feelings, not even analysis, Mister Ambassador!
Germans knew how to handle maps especially in the Nothern France - not to say I regret it : Waffles are from Belgium.
Have you lost it on your way here? Could help to understand and read how we function.

Situation in France is far more complex and tougher that this easy image of "Monsieur Hollande has his finger on the key" ...

2 comments :

1°)eventhough he is a powerful man, our last king died a long time ago and Hollande cannot do everything.
Load is very heavy onto his neck.
This is why we elected him.
This is why we pay him for, right.

2°) Hollande as to face with French social system and beyond that French habits - supposingly not competitive?
Have you felt French social tension just before the Presidential elections where run? Just before Indian metal maker was - the car industry going south - to shut down a plant? French population, globally, has to make a "strong effort", after several crisis. Again, not easy task for a President to have them accept.